Israel continues to express bitter sentiment over the diplomatic victory that secured the nuclear accord with Tehran: The country's defense minister stated that Tehran's nuclear ambitions and “terror infrastructure” are a bigger threat than Islamic State.

Speaking at the Institute for National Security Studies' (INSS) conference in Tel Aviv, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon stressed that "Iran is our main enemy,” and if he were to choose between Iran and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in an open conflict, he would "prefer ISIS."

The logic seems simple, as IS will be eventually be defeated, while Iran continues to pose a threat with its new rapprochement with the West.

[Tehran] is a rogue regime with designs on a regional hegemony. Hezbollah is Iran's proxy, with the ability to declare war. Iran currently has terror infrastructure in place in five continents: Asia, Africa, Europe and both in South and North America," Ya'alon explained, refuting IDF's chief's claims at the conference that new opportunities could arise as a result of the nuclear agreement reached in July 2015 between Iran and a group of world powers, the P5+1.

The historical agreement was hammered out after more than a decade of intense diplomatic bargaining. At the end, the agreement placed strict limits on Iran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for the lifting of western sanctions.

Iran agreed to a 15-year moratorium on enriching uranium beyond 3.67 percent. The enrichment would be conducted only at the Natanz facility, while the Fordo facility would not conduct any enrichment activities or store fissile material. Iran also agreed to store no more than 300 kg of low-enriched uranium. The Arak reactor would not be used to produce plutonium under the deal. The spent fuel would be handled by international mediators.

Yet despite a clear diplomatic victory, Ya'alon claimed on Tuesday that the nuclear agreement only "pushed back the clock from three months to one year” and that “if Iran feels economically secure, it can breakout and produce a bomb even faster."

Iran, he claimed is becoming a key player in the region as the country supports Damascus against a large insurgency. Ya'alon says that Iran is a key source of instability in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, and Gaza.

While acknowledging Russia's role in Syria, the defense minister praised American-led achievements in making ISIS “suffer serious defeats in Iraq and Syria."

“We believe ISIS will be eventually defeated territoriality after the blows it has been suffering, and in light of the attacks on its oil reserves,” Ya'alon said.

But a final victory over IS will only come if world powers support a ground offensive by focusing to “strengthen local forces with ‘boots on the ground,' like the Kurds are doing," he added.

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Exclusive U.S. Delegation to Arrive in Israel Next Week to Finalize Details of New Military Aid Package

Hellfire in perspective U.S. military aid to Israel exceeds $100 billion

An unexpected winner in Israel's defense budget: Poorer communities

A delegation from the United States will arrive in Israel next week to finalize the details of the U.S. military aid agreement with Israel for the next 10 years. The payout from the new aid package will start with the 2019 U.S. government fiscal year, beginning in October 2018.

Composed of staff from the U.S. National Security Council, the delegation is scheduled to meet with their Israeli counterparts, headed by Brig. Gen. (res.) Jacob Nagal, acting head of Israel’s National Security Council. Nagal has temporarily replaced Yossi Cohen, who recently was tapped to direct the Mossad espionage agency. Senior officers from the Israel Defense Forces General Staff's Planning Directorate, as well as Defense Ministry officials will participate in the meetings too.

The upcoming round of discussions is expected to focus on technical details, says a source involved in the talks, and to be one of the last before finalization of the new aid agreement.

Within the next month and a half, the two countries hope to draft a memorandum of understanding covering American funding to Israel's military over the next decade, the source added.

During recent visits to Washington, both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon have discussed with American officials the amount of military aid Israel will receive starting in 2018, when the present aid arrangement runs out.

The Obama administration is expected to raise America's annual military funding to Israel by up to $1 billion for the period covered in the new accord – to about $4.1 billion annually, Haaretz reported three months ago.

Israeli defense officials have said in the past increased U.S. military aid must be concomitant with an increase in Israeli defense spending. As part of the recent negotiations between Israel's finance and defense ministries, a hike in the defense budget was approved, bringing it to a total of more than 60 billion shekels (about $15 billion) per year. In addition, the ministries agreed that from now on, U.S. military aid will be considered to be separate from the regular defense budget, and accounted for separately as well, and to that end, there will be an exemption on levying value added tax on the use of these monies.

After the Iran deal

U.S. military aid to Israel began in 1962; the cumulative sum allocated since then is about $100 billion. The agreement allows Israel to purchase weapons as well as other related equipment and supplies, such as fuel, from the United States. Among the items included are F-35 airplanes. A significant increase in American aid would allow Israel also to purchase Bell Boeing's V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, a deal agreed to last year but postponed due to a shortage of funds. The V-22 deal is estimated at a cost of $1.3 billion.

Up until a few months ago, Israel refused to hold talks on the military aid framework and the “compensation package” it will receive because of the Iranian nuclear agreement, until the latter was formally approved. A senior Israeli defense official said that because the Iranian accord with the world powers will involve the arming of various Arab countries, particularly the Gulf states, “an answer for preserving [Israel’s] qualitative military edge is required — and everyone is aware of this.”

The Israeli decision to wait on the aid talks until approval of the deal with Tehran was not well received in the Obama administration, which saw the postponement as a waste of time.

At this week's cabinet meeting, Netanyahu mentioned the issue of U.S. military aid, after the removal of sanctions against Iran came into effect.

“Following the nuclear agreement with Iran, Israel will continue to monitor all of Iran’s international violations, including those regarding the nuclear agreement, the ballistic missile accord and terrorism,” Netanyahu declared.

“Discussions with the administration are currently being completed," the premier added, "on a document of understanding for the coming decade regarding security assistance to the State of Israel. This is an important part of the permanent policy with respect to us and the United States, our ally, and it is important in order to allow Israel to repel threats in the region – especially the Iranian threat.”

90 comments:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott flew to Israel Saturday on a plane belonging to Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino owner and megadonor active in Republican national politics.

A spokesman for the governor confirmed Abbott flew on Adelson’s 737 after Jewish Insider and The Dallas Morning News first reported it Monday.

Adelson is a top spender in Republican politics known for his fierce support of Israel and his friendship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Abbott met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss the Texas-Israeli relationship and reiterate Abbott's opposition to Iran — a nation whose relationship with Israel has long been tense.

Abbott’s trip is being paid for by TexasOne, the state’s economic development corporation, and Adelson appeared to have loaned the aircraft free of charge.

A Republican lawmaker at the US Senate was bribed one million dollars by Israel to try sabotaging negotiations between Tehran and the world powers, including the United States.

The name of Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) emerged on news outlets on Wednesday after a report revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had bribed the choosy lawmakers of the Republican Party so as to kill the accord.

Cotton received $960,250 from the Emergency Committee for Israel, a right-wing political advocacy organization based in the United States, for his senatorial campaign.

As the negotiations were continuing in March 2015, the freshman senator spearheaded an open letter, signed by 47 Republican lawmakers, to warn Iran that a GOP president would not remain committed to any agreement with Tehran.

Between our more fuel efficient cars, 18 billion gallons of ethanol, and increasing production from Iraq and Iran, gasoline costs for Rufus' Clan have become almost a rounding error in the household budget:

and the cries of terror, and pain from Squawk on the Street have become next to unbearable.

An example, Cramer's on tv rending, and gnashing over IBM. Well, folks, IBM turned in some really shitty number, "And Guidance." IBM is lost in the new world. It knows not where it's going, much less how to get there. IBM is Tyrannosaurus Rex After the Asteroid.

The Gales of Creative Destruction are blowing, again, and them big old lizards are going to take a beating. Might as well pop some popcorn, and enjoy the show.

Ya'alon expresses the political view on the Iran/ISIS issue. The Israeli military and intelligence agencies have indicated that the Iran deal is manageable and that ISIS is the bigger threat. One top official recently said Hezbollah is the biggest threat.

However, the political view takes into account the money they can take from the US. The fact that Israeli aid will now be an off-budget item is disgusting. Anyone who denies that Israeli aid has now become a payoff for political reasons with Israel and as a political slush fund for the pols and the MIC is either fool or a liar.

It is hard to overstate the significance of the latest revelations about the national security catastrophe caused by Hillary Clinton’s private email server. The nation’s highest-level secrets were kept on an unsecure server that is believed to be have been hacked by multiple overseas parties.

These revelations come from the nation’s Intelligence Community Inspector General Charles McCullough III, not some partisan. He is a nonpolitical official that was confirmed by the Senate and entrusted with keeping our intelligence agencies honest. For those readers who have not yet familiarized themselves with the revelations, Catherine Herridge’s exclusive report at Fox News must be read. (Incidentally, Herridge deserves a Pulitzer Prize for her ongoing coverage of this story, though given the leftist bias usually seen in the Pulitzers, this is unlikely to happen unless Hillary actually is indicted – which is now far from unthinkable.)

McCullough’s report was supplied to senior members of oversight committees in Congress, which almost certainly means that it was legislators who leaked the explosive contents to Herridge. His letter indicates that the highest level secrets, called “Special Access Programs” (SAP) were found in emails on the homebrew server. These secrets are so profound that McCullough himself had to obtain special permission to read the emails that were available to hackers in the employ of foreign nations and terror organizations.

Access to a SAP is restricted to those with a "need-to-know" because exposure of the intelligence would likely reveal the source, putting a method of intelligence collection -- or a human asset -- at risk.

People and programs were put at risk. We may never know who dies, and which multi-billion dollar programs had to be junked, but such consequences are reasonably to be predicted by exposure of secrets at this level.

So what has been the Clinton campaign’s response? Herridge received the following:

Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said, "This is the same interagency dispute that has been playing out for months, and it does not change the fact that these emails were not classified at the time they were sent or received. It is alarming that the intelligence community IG, working with Republicans in Congress, continues to selectively leak materials in order to resurface the same allegations and try to hurt Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

Fallon is spreading this line to friendly sources, as well. It is all they have got:

So the IG is part of a vast right wing conspiracy! And inverting logic, the ultra-secret contents weren’t classified because they weren’t marked as such. Ahem, emails are marked because they are secret; they are not secret because they are marked. Clinton's outright initial denial that her server contained classified informtaion is now a joke.

The FBI has access to the same report. A decision to not make a criminal referral when the nation’s beyond-top-secret intelligence has been exposed would discredit the FBI as a politicized agency. Given the personal history of James Comey and the 150 special agents reportedly involved in the investigation, I would wager a substantial sum that a criminal referral will result......

Sanders is still a long shot for the nomination. With the choices the GOP is putting up she still has a good chance of being elected. All she has to do is hold out for the next 10 months and she will skate.

As an aside, I think my views on Obama are pretty well known here; however, that being said, I fear that with the people we currently have running for president we may quickly start looking at the Obama years as the good old days.

2015 was hottest year on record by wide margin, agencies report Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON — Reuters

Published Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016 10:47AM EST

Last year’s global average temperature was the hottest ever by the widest margin on record, two U.S. government agencies said on Wednesday, adding to pressure for deep greenhouse gas emissions cuts scientists say are needed to arrest warming that is disrupting the global climate.

Data from the U.S. space agency NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed that in 2015 the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit (0.90 Celsius) above the 20th century average, surpassing 2014’s previous record by 0.29 F (0.16 C).

ole bob, he was cut and pasting all kinds of crap demonstrating the settled science of how marijuana caused all sorts of bad brain things. The irony of his fevering belief in the 'settled science' of marijuana use versus his poo pooing of the 'settled science' of global warming was, as usual with the boob, hypocritical at best.

The fact that anyone who bucks AIPAC or offers the least criticism of the current regime in Israel is attacked by AIPAC, right wing Christian nut jobs, Jewish activist billionaires, and people who are stupid enough to ask What political reasons exactly ?

What political slush fund exactly ?

If they make the aid to Israeli an off budget item, it will be handled outside the normal budgeting process. It's the same shit Bush used the fund the Iraq war at first.

The degree of scrutiny will be reduced since it is a stand alone item and not part of the give and take over budget items. Also, given the answer to (1) above, few will have the guts to oppose it now or increase it in future years. Those that do will be too few to make a difference.

This latest deal is supposedly for 10 years. Does anyone really believe that the increases will be cut in the future. It is more likely that there will be further increases.

slush fund/ˈsləSH ˌfənd/

noun

1. a reserve of money used for illicit purposes, especially political bribery

This describes the situation vis a vis the US and Israel given the answer to (1) above. Support brings in the bucks, sometimes very big bucks as the article above notes with the $1 million Cotton got for simply penning a letter. If you fight the baksheesh, you go on the list and are attacked to the point of being called anti-Semitic.

(3) Which pols exactly ?

Easier to answer which pols aren’t involved. Feinstein, McConnell, Reid, Brown, Cotton, Boxer, Peters, Wyden, Graham, you name em. Which senator or rep, who has been in office for at least a year, hasn’t had his two week vacation, oops sorry, fact-finding mission to Israel paid for by Jewish charities?

Lookyhere Ash, I've been around a long time and I can testify I've never seen pot improve anyone. I have seen some life longers it hasn't hurt too much, though towards the end they don't seem to have too much to say about much of anything, but then silence can be golden, and I've seen a lot it has definitely harmed in all sorts of ways.

As to global warming, any thinking man agrees with Rufus on the subject. That is self evident.

Though even on that I think I threw in 'according to this writer' or 'if this writer is correct' or something along those lines.

*******

I hear.....what is that....ah, the siren song of the Casino....

I am upgrading my hunch that The Donald wins Iowa to 'prediction status'....surely once I will get a political prediction correct.....

Later, Trump hailed Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) for publicly stating this week that Iowans should not support Cruz. Branstad noted Cruz's opposition to the ethanol fuel subsidies that help fund the state's corn industry.

...

For his part, Cruz has also dished out attacks left and right against Trump as the two have locked horns for the past two weeks. Although Trump is ahead nationally, the two candidates are roughly tied among likely Iowa caucus-goers, who on February 1 will be first voters to weigh in on the Republican primary.In 16 minutes of a Monday radio interview, Cruz hit Trump for bragging about his dealmaking ability, for expressing support for the bank bailout, for praising President Barack Obama's stimulus package, for once supporting universal healthcare, for giving money to Democrats, for not speaking out when Congress was debating comprehensive immigration reform, for contributing to the Clinton Foundation, for supposedly flip-flopping too recently on the issues, and for once touting socially liberal views, among other things.

As Donald Trump continues to lead Republican presidential polls, some of his backers have forecast that he could draw a significant share of Democratic votes in a general election.

...

On the Republican side, Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz both get good or great ratings from more than 6 in 10 conservatives, but a smaller number of moderates or liberals would give those ratings, 34% for Cruz and 47% for Trump.

A handout photo provided by Nature on January 19, 2016 shows the skull of skeleton found at Nataruk, near Kenya's Lake Turkana

A photo provided by Nature on January 19, 2016 shows a nearly 10,000 year old skeleton after excavation

Unearthed at Nataruk, near Kenya's Lake Turkana, the battered bones provide "conclusive evidence of something that must have been an inter-group conflict," Cambridge University anthropologist Marta Mirazon Lahr explained

A handout photo provided by Nature on January 19, 2016 shows the skull of skeleton found at Nataruk, near Kenya's Lake Turkana

About 10,000 years ago, a small band of men, women and children were captured by a rival clan before being tied up, shot with arrows and bludgeoned to death.

Their shattered remains fell into a lagoon, and were preserved in sediment for millennia.

On Wednesday, scientists presented them as evidence of the oldest-known human massacre, a finding that adds to the debate about why humans make war.

The bloodshed occurred when our prehistoric ancestors lived as hunter-gatherers, on the cusp of the agricultural revolution that saw early humans settle down to till the land.

Unearthed at Nataruk, near Kenya's Lake Turkana, the battered bones provide "conclusive evidence of something that must have been an inter-group conflict," Cambridge University anthropologist Marta Mirazon Lahr explained.

"Evidence for that, before you have sedentary societies, before you have villages and cemeteries, that is very unique."

Lahr led a study published in the journal Nature.

There is other fossil evidence of violence against even older individual humans, but none of clashes between groups.

Lahr and her team dug up 12 skeletons, more or less intact, in what would have been fertile land on the edge of a lagoon 10,000 years ago, but is now barren semi-desert.

Ten bore the marks of a violent death -- embedded in some of the skeletons were arrow heads made from a black rock called obsidian.

The dig also yielded other skeletons in fragments, including those of small children.

The first skeleton the team discovered was that of a man lying face down, beaten to death.

"The injuries suffered by this man crushed both the side and the front of the head inwards, causing a number of fractures that radiated throughout the skull, and the neck is also broken. So I am sure the second blow killed him," Lahr said in a Nature podcast.

Other skeletons also had blows to the head, four had injuries consistent with arrow wounds, and some had trauma to the knees, hands, or ribs.

One was a young woman found in a seated position.

"She had her hands crossed between the legs, lying on the feet that were also crossed. This may suggest that she was bound at the time of death," said Lahr.

"And she was pregnant, so that was actually a moment that we all stopped to think."

The remains of a six-to-nine-month-old foetus was found in the skeleton's abdominal cavity.

The origins of war-making is a controversial topic, touching as it does on the very essence of human nature -- are we born with a capacity for organised violence like our close cousins chimpanzees, or do circumstances make us so?

Some anthropologists have suggested war arose along with the concept of ownership that came with humans settling down to till the land.

But the new study contends that warfare was a feature of human already 10,000 years ago, when we were still mainly nomadic.

"My interpretation is that this was a small community, a foraging party, and that they were surprised by an attack," said Lahr.

But the reason remains unclear, and the nature vs. nurture argument unresolved.

"The massacre at Nataruk could be seen as resulting from a raid for resources -- territory, women, children, food stored in pots," the study authors wrote.

But it could also indicate "a standard antagonistic response to an encounter between two social groups."

Either way, the deaths "are testimony to the antiquity of inter-group violence and war," concluded the study.

Unearthed at Nataruk, near Kenya's Lake Turkana, the battered bones provide "conclusive evidence of something that must have been an inter-group conflict," Cambridge University anthropologist Marta Mirazon Lahr explained.

"Evidence for that, before you have sedentary societies, before you have villages and cemeteries, that is very unique."

This is non sense. The Nez Perce here, paleolithic fisher/hunter/gatherer folk of of the first order, made fighting raids yearly against the Shoshone to the south.

Also traded with them, all depended on the time of year.

From time out of mind.

What the Nez Perce lacked was gunpowder and barrels. And 'that necessary animal, the horse'.

What the true paleolithics did not do was human sacrifice.

That is associated with agriculture, the miracle of the seed that dies and is reborn.

Since the seed that dies is reborn, nothing was lost in human sacrifice, according to this way of thinking.

Often it was thought to be a grace to be offered as a thanksgiving to the gods.

An old etiological legend concerning the turning away from human sacrifice is found in the tale of Abraham and Isaac. The folks along the coast - the Philistines - were big into child sacrifice back in those days.

Mead’s brewing process is relatively easy — so easy, in fact, that you can probably get everything you need to brew it at your local super store. Mead ferments in as little as a few weeks, or it may take as long as a year. For Vikings, mead represented an easy, potent, and delicious brew that facilitated closely knit communities and tradition in a way few other things at the time could match.

The age of the Vikings lasted until around 1066 AD. The cause of their decline is the subject of considerable debate, but a few common theories emerge. The first is the rise of Christianity, which for obvious reasons opposed the pillaging, looting, and killing inherent in raiding. Christian authorities also forbade raids against monasteries. Another reason was the increasing inequality in Viking society. Wealth in the society consolidated as fewer Norsemen held land, and more and more were landless serfs laboring to pay rent and survive. This left few Vikings available to go raiding. In continental Europe, the formalization of the feudal system meant that small localities and principalities were able to raise reasonably well-trained fighting forces to meet Viking incursions effectively.

The Viking tradition remains alive today, in everything from TV shows to T-shirts. The Viking code of bravery and sacrifice resonates with many, particularly the small, tight-knit military community. Today’s world could also benefit from remembering the Viking society’s deep sense of community and mutual support.

Mead is a simple recipe that even an amateur home brewer can make with relative ease. Below is a simple one, courtesy of LoveBeerLoveFood.com:

Start with a large pot of boiling water. Boil the water for 10 minutes to ensure it is sterile, and then chill it with an ice bath (immerse the pot in ice water). Sanitize a funnel and the carboys prior to adding in the warmed honey, and just enough sterile water to nearly fill the carboy. Each batch then gets one third of the contents of a rehydrated yeast packet and 1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient. Seal in your carboy, and place somewhere with a cool, consistent temperature. Test the taste periodically after a month or two, but be prepared for it to take up to a year to fully ferment.

And remember, the first toast of any feast is always: To Odin!

Paul Lewandowski is a graduate student, veteran and writer. He prefers a good gin gimlet to just about anything else. America is his favorite country and his favorite color is a tie among red, white, and blue.

The Wall Street Journal recently printed an excerpt from "The Next Oil Crisis Looms Large – and Perhaps Close," printed in the Aug. 28, 1998 issue of Science magazine. According to a study from the International Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, "sometime between 2010 and 2020 the gush of oil from wells around the world will peak at 80 million barrels per day, then begin a steady, inevitable decline."

Well, not quite. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 1998, when the article was written, global oil production was 75.7 million bbl/day. In 2014 it was 93.2, and our problem is too much oil.

It's useful to remember such things when the "experts" grandly tell us what's going to happen.

Henry Percy is the nom de guerre of a writer in Arizona. He may be reached at saler.50d[at]gmail.com.

Now they have no options. Any increase in prices will restart American, European, and Chinese frackers. Failure to increase prices will bankrupt them. As a further blessing, we Americans will no longer have to hear the caterwauling idiocies of environmentalist Chicken Littles screaming about "peak oil."

A puzzling mindset has emerged in some conservatives regarding Cruz. A publisher who usually publishes my articles rejected one touting Ted Cruz for president. The publisher politely lectured me about my support for Cruz, calling it misguided and even non-Christian. I love the way when people know you are Christian they try to use your faith to manipulate you. (Smile)

Conservatives choosing to perceive Trump as they want him to be is a reflection of their anger, frustration, and fear of losing their country. I witnessed this phenomenon when Trump first announced his campaign. An evangelical minister attempted to convince me that Trump is a committed Christian. I was a bit taken aback. While I do not think poorly of Trump, it never occurred to me to use the words “Trump” and “Christian” in the same sentence. My Evangelical brother's effort to make Trump a strong Christian confirmed that Conservatives are desperate. Pure and simple.

The reality is that many conservatives will follow anyone promising “real” change in Washington. Given the betrayal, heartache and disappointment that the GOP has put tea partiers/patriots through, I cannot criticize my patriot brothers and sisters who support Trump. It kind of offends me when I hear conservative pundits trashing Trump supporters -- in essence, beating up on the victims.

I will state again that if Trump becomes our GOP nominee, I will wave “Vote Trump!” signs on street corners. However, I do have concerns about the man. I am not talking about the mainstream media, Democrats and RINO's accusations about Trump.

As a matter of fact, please allow me to digress for a moment. I heard a report that British politicians have half a million signatures on a petition supportive of banning Trump from the UK because of his proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from the U.S. Folks, this infuriated me. I thought, “Just because you idiots have surrendered to political correctness and allowed Muslim terrorists to dominate your country, does not mean we should do the same in the U.S.!”

Back to my issues with Trump. My dad said a snake can swim under water a very long time just like a fish. However, it eventually has to come up for air because it is not a fish, it is a snake. Folks, I am not calling Trump a snake. I am simply saying while Trump has touted conservative values during his campaign, Trump's history is not conservative. Perhaps Trump has had a road to Damascus conversion and is now a rabid conservative. Who knows? But why risk it?

A wise person said, “The best predictor of future behavior is... past behavior.” Folks, I suspect that there is very little doubt in your mind as to who Ted Cruz is and what he will do as president. Cruz has a history of rock solid conservatism.

And dare I mention the “C” word, character. Cruz proudly proclaims his Christianity. Real religious conviction affects one’s character/behavior. I want my president to believe that there is a God and that it is not him.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom...” Proverbs 8:10

William Bradford, the Christian who led the pilgrims on the Mayflower to the new world seeking religious freedom, knew this scripture to be true. Bradford was very outspoken about his belief and trust in God to lead them to their new home in the new world; built on the unique concept of individual freedom.

What I found most distressing about SCOTUS, in essence, making same-sex marriage the law of the land is the Left's successful effort to make normal what has been considered deviant since the beginning of time. SCOTUS's decision opened the floodgates not for tolerance, but for Americans to be bullied into embracing anti-biblical behavior. Why do same-sex couples force Christian businesses to service their weddings rather than going to businesses with flashing neon signs, “We Service Homosexual Weddings”? Clearly, their agenda is not about getting a wedding cake and all about the Left's intolerance of Christians.

It still blows my mind that Christians are actually being thrown into jail in the United States of America for not embracing sodomy. Ted Cruz has vowed to defend religious freedom. I know he will.

A tea party group leader said they feel like Cruz is lecturing them when he speaks. I thought, “Excuse me. With a morally bankrupted anti-America scoundrel like Barack Obama running our country for eight years, America desperately needs a leader/Commander-in-Chief of the highest character and moral standards”. No way, would I reject such a candidate because I feel a bit intimidated in their presence. In a field of two-faced, say-whatever-necessary-to-win candidates, I say praise God for a candidate who truly stands for something.

When I was a child, I assumed all U.S. presidents were exceptional people of the highest character. Man, was I wrong. Americans long for a great trustworthy and moral leader. America desperately needs Ted Cruz.

WASHINGTON, January 20, 2016 — As Iraqi military forces clear the key city of Ramadi after retaking it from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant control, thousands of terrorist explosives left behind have complicated the process, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve told Pentagon reporters today.

Delivering an operational update by live satellite feed from Baghdad, Army Col. Steve Warren said that while clearing the city is progressing, it’s “slow and it's painstaking.”

“They've literally found thousands of booby-traps, [improvised explosive devices], buried explosives [and] houses rigged to explode with a single trip-wire,” the colonel said.

Another issue is that Iraqi forces are finding a “large number of civilians” who likely have hidden from ISIL or are escaping from enemy control, he said.

Pushing East and North

“[Iraqi forces] have cleared a majority of the downtown city center and are now pushing east and north into the Sufia district, which is a suburb of Ramadi,” Warren said, adding that as areas are cleared, the Iraqi security forces turns them over to local Iraqi police.

In western Anbar province, several gunfights in the past few days followed last week's rout of ISIL near Barwanah, where coalition forces struck several targets including tunnels and two factories: one for vehicle bombs and the other for IEDs, Warren added.

Additionally, coalition forces have conducted 47 airstrikes in Mosul since Jan. 13, including one on an ISIL cash-collection point, Warren said. “This was the second strike in Mosul in as many weeks against ISIL financial targets,” he added. “We've previously struck eight other cash storage and distribution areas across Iraq and Syria.”

Vetted Syrian opposition forces retook several villages as a result of recent offensive operations in Syria along the Mara line, the colonel said, and despite repeated ISIL attacks, Syrian democratic forces continue to hold the Tishrin Dam.

In both Iraq and Syria, the total cost of operations to defeat ISIL has reached $5.5 billion and is running at $11 million per day, Warren said. It’s estimated coalition airstrikes have killed several thousand enemy fighters, and Iraqi forces have helped to rescue more than 3,600 civilians who were trapped by ISIL, he added.

“So far in the air campaign, we have flown 65,492 sorties, and we have conducted 9,782 airstrikes,” breaking out into 6,516 in Iraq and 3,266 strikes in Syria, the colonel said.

Coalition strikes have killed about 95 senior and mid-level ISIL leaders since the beginning of May, he said, adding that the U.S.-led coalition has provided basic combat training for 16,715 personnel and put thousands more through various specialized training programs.

“This enemy has proven time and again its ruthlessness, its barbarity, its willingness to destroy everything from human life to civilian supporting infrastructure to … cultural artifacts with absolute disregard for history, humanity, or anything that approaches decency,” Warren said. “[This] really is a battle of savagery against decency.”

Collapsing energy prices and bearish economic news have rattled equity markets, and the shock may not be over. With the world awash in oil and prices falling toward $26 a barrel, Iran is set to add to the oversupply now that international sanctions have been eased.

It's as if the whole world were conspiring to bury the tattered remains of the "peak oil" thesis, so popular a few years ago.

As recently as 2009, a headline in The Denver Post announced a gathering of "peak-oil theorists" who insisted the planet was "running out of oil faster than society suspects," and predicted the resulting spot shortages would "blow up prices, shock economies and destabilize governments."

Little did they realize that the shale oil revolution in the U.S., already under way, was about to push domestic production to unforeseen heights. As it turns out, the real threat to stability around the globe was an oil price too low to support the budgetary commitments of petrostates such as Russia and Venezuela, among others.

Needless to say, peak oil — the high point of production after which it steadily declines and oil is never cheap again — is no longer on the horizon. Indeed, some experts are saying that huge upward price spikes aren't likely in the future, absent war, because of immense supplies and the ability of producers to react faster than ever to market signals.

They may be proved wrong, of course, just as peak-oil pessimists were, but their logic at least bears considering.

Peak oil handwringing was popular for most of a decade, with even a somber editorial on these pages 10 years ago highlighting some of the arguments. Suffice it to say that human ingenuity and the profit motive are usually enough to overcome worries over resource scarcity. Or at least that has been true in the case of oil for all of its history: one prediction after another of impending permanent shortage followed by an unforeseen gusher of supply and diving prices.

Prices will eventually recover, of course. They always do. For the sake of Colorado jobs and market stability, we hope a bounce off the floor occurs sooner rather than later, even if peak oil worries have been laid to rest.

Anyone who really thought Israel would willingly give back any of the West Bank is seriously naive. It was never in the plan. Not since Likud came to power.

The situation is only getting worse for the Palestinians as hard-right settlers continue to flood in. If they declare they are seizing this land it is merely a recognition of facts on the ground and is just the first of many declarations to come.

Bibi telegraphed this the last time he met with Obama. He came out and said that maybe it is time Israel started absorb some of the occupied territories including the Golan Heights.

The appropriation, first reported by Israel’s Army Radio, covers 154 hectares (380 acres) in the Jordan Valley close to Jericho, an area where Israel already has many settlement farms built on land Palestinians seek for a state.

Square miles to acres area units conversion factor is 640. To find out how many acres in square miles, multiply by the factor or instead, use the converter below.1 Square Mile = 640 Acres

It also doesn't preclude it. Given you are working with people who would attend an Iowa GOP caucus, who knows what would influence them. It's likely that if you had a laser pointer you could keep most of them amused for hours.

As an aside, Iowa doesn't have a great record predicting who will eventually become the eventual GOP nominee.

Criminals, egotists, the blind commie - straight out of For Whom The Bell Tolls - having learned nothing from the recent past, much less from Aristotle - the lone reserved black guy, best character in the play, too good for this bunch, once towards the center, now slowly exiting stage right - shining black guy in a sea of white and brown - standing out even while leaving like that painting by the wop or frog, total white canvas, everyone else whitey - standing out - too good for this group.

"I can beat Mr. Tolstoy, but I can't beat Mr. Shakespeare."

Ernest Hemingway

Only Shakespeare could do justice to this cast of criminals, crooks, commies, blood suckers, and yet it remains true, as Walt Whitman, the Republicans have the better people.....

Did Inspector General Charles McCullough provide a “smoking gun” demonstrating illegality on Hillary Clinton’s unauthorized and secret e-mail server? Depends on who you ask. Despite finding information relating to highly classified “special access programs” in several dozen e-mails, it’s just an issue of poor judgment, according to David Axelrod:

NBC News talked to “officials” who claim the information exposed was “innocuous,” but the only one on the record is Team Hillary flack Brian Fallon — who accused the Obama-appointed McCullough yesterday of being part of a Republican conspiracy:

The classified material included in the latest batch of Hillary Clinton emails flagged by an internal watchdog involved discussions of CIA drone strikes, which are among the worst kept secrets in Washington, senior U.S. officials briefed on the matter tell NBC News.

The officials say the emails included relatively “innocuous” conversations by State Department officials about the CIA drone program, which technically is considered a “Special Access Program” because officials are briefed on it only if they have a “need to know.”

Well, maybe. But if they are so innocuous, why are some lawmakers barred from accessing them?

Some of Hillary Clinton’s emails on her private server contained information so secret that senior lawmakers who oversee the State Department cannot read them without fulfilling additional security requirements, Fox News has learned.

The emails in question, as Fox News first reported earlier this week, contained intelligence classified at a level beyond “top secret.” Because of this designation, not all the lawmakers on key committees reviewing the case have high enough clearances.

A source with knowledge of the intelligence review told Fox News that senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, despite having high-level clearances, are among those not authorized to read the intelligence from so-called “special access programs” without taking additional security steps — like signing new non-disclosure agreements.

These programs are highly restricted to protect intelligence community sources and methods.

Make no mistake, writes intel analyst and former Special Ops member Anthony DeChristopher in The Hill today, this is indeed a smoking gun. Exposure of SAP data should be enough to make anyone with a significant clearance “mess their pantsuit”:

As more information from Hillary Clinton’s server has been made available, it is clear that the contents of the server contained Imagery Intelligence (IMINT), Human Intelligence (HUMINT), and Signal Intelligence (SIGINT). Understanding that much of the information has beenretroactively classified, there are a few facts that are tough to grasp—at least from the perspective of an intelligence practitioner.

First, when imagery that is classified SECRET//NOFORN (no foreign national) is viewed, regardless of the absence of classification markings, it is distinctly evident. Second, any documents that contain or reference HUMINT is always classified SECRET, and if specificnames of sources or handlers are mentioned, they are at a minimum SECRET//NOFORN. Third, SIGINT is always classified at the TS level. It’s not uncommon for some SI to be downgraded and shared over SECRET mediums, however, it is highly unlikely that a Secretary of State would receive downgraded intelligence. Finally, SAP intelligence has been discovered on Clinton’s private server, and many are now calling this the smoking gun. SAP is a specialized management system of additional security controls designed to protect SAR or Special Access Required. SAR has to do with extremely perishable operational methods and capabilities, and only selected individuals who are “read on” or “indoctrinated” are permitted access to these programs. The mishandling of SAP can cause catastrophic damage to current collection methods, techniques and personnel.

In other words, if you have worked with classified material for more than a day, it seems highly implausible that someone could receive any of the aforementioned over an un-secure medium without alarm bells sounding. However, reading about a Special Access Program on an unclassified device would make anyone even remotely familiar with intelligence mess their pantsuit.

DeChristopher calls this a time for Hillary — and the FBI — to make good on her declaration that “no one is too big to jail”:

With more damming information being released almost weekly now, it’s interesting that during last Sunday’s Democratic debate, Clinton resoundingly stated: “No one is too big for jail.” Although the context was referencing bank CEOs and Hedge fund managers, the obvious correlation left many scratching their heads and wondering—did Hillary Clinton just say, “I dare you” to the FBI?”

Not to the FBI — to the Department of Justice. And it’s time that Loretta Lynch called Hillary’s dare, or be asked to explain why she won’t.

(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Thursday, Haditha Council in Anbar Province revealed, that the ISIS organization is preparing to attack the district west of Ramadi (110 km west of Baghdad) from two axes, while pointed out that the joint forces reinforced its presence to repel the ISIS attack.

The Head of the Council Khalid Nassif said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “The intelligence information revealed that the ISIS organization is preparing to attack Haditha District (170 km west of Ramadi) from the forests area on the north side and the old warehouse area on the west side,” pointing out that, “ISIS mobilized its elements and equipped them with a number of car bombs to attack the earth mounds and defensive barriers of the security forces in the district.”

Nassif added, “The security forces from the army, police and tribal fighters in Haditha District have reinforced their combat and military presence to repel any possible attack by ISIS elements.”

Noteworthy, most of Anbar Province was controlled by ISIS elements, while the security forces began wide cleansing operations and managed to retake the city of Ramadi after a fierce battle, in addition to another areas in Fallujah and killed dozens of ISIS gangs

BRUSSELS, January 21, 2016 — The effort to isolate the Syrian city of Raqqa in the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is producing some success, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

"We are comfortable that the relationship that we have right now with moderate Syrian opposition forces is allowing us to move the campaign forward in the way that we envisioned," Dunford said.

The fight in Syria is intertwined with the fight in Iraq, the general noted. He added that the efforts for Raqqa are complemented by the success of the Kurdish peshmerga operation around the northern Iraqi city of Sinjar.

The fight against ISIL, he said, involves cutting the lines of communication and hindering freedom of movement between Raqqa and the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the largest city captured by the terrorists.

'Decisive Operations' for Mosul

The efforts are putting pressure "360-degrees" on ISIL in Iraq and Syria, the chairman commented. He highlighted positive developments, including the peshmerga consolidating large swaths of northern Iraq.

"We're in the process of planning with the Iraqis the next phase of Mosul," Dunford said. "In some point in the future, we'll conduct more decisive operations to isolate Mosul."

Success in Mosul depends on the local population rejecting the terrorists and their brutality, Dunford said, noting that ISIL gained support of the populace through "fear and intimidation."

Russian involvement in Syria has not changed the U.S. objectives, the chairman said. He said he is satisfied that the flight safety mechanisms put in place in October have allowed the campaign to continue as planned.

"On balance, when you look at the last three months, we've been continuing to prosecute the campaign in a manner that we've envisioned and been able to address the safety-of-flight issues," he said.

The chairman said he has talked with his Russian counterpart twice on a wide range of issues. That dialogue is important, he said, because it will help "mitigate the risk of miscalculation."

Military-to-military relationships should be "enduring, even during challenging periods," Dunford said. "I think that we have experience of that throughout the Cold War, and I think it was useful then, and I think it to be useful now," he added.

The United States and Russia have different goals in Syria, he pointed out.

"Not sharing those objectives prevents us from doing what we would call coordination," he said. "We are able to, with the dialogue that we have, address safety issues, and we have a formal mechanism in place."

Russian Efforts Aid Syrian Regime

Russia's involvement in Syria has "stabilized" the situation for the regime of President Bashar Assad, Dunford said. The regime has regained a small amount of ground in that time, he said.

"My assessment is that the Russians have been helpful to the regime in consolidating their control over the area that is [an] arc in the western part of the country," he said.

The chairman added, "I think the regime was in a worse place back in September, and I think as a result of the support the Russians have provided, the regime is in a better place today."

Further, Mrs. Clinton’s own memoir, “Hard Choices” (2014), apparently written at a time when she wished to stress how delicate were the secrets she knew, and how carefully she handled them, reports that she “often received warnings from Department security officials to leave our [BlackBerrys], laptops—anything that communicated with the outside world—on the plane with their batteries removed to prevent foreign intelligence services from compromising them.

“Even in friendly settings we conducted business under strict security precautions, taking care where and how we read secret material and used our technology,” Mrs. Clinton tells readers. She even read classified material “inside an opaque tent in a hotel room. In less well-equipped settings, we were told to improvise by reading sensitive material with a blanket over our head.”

Hoot Hoot Hoot

Clinton’s Emails: A Criminal Charge Is Justified

Hillary’s explanations look increasingly contrived as evidence of malfeasance mounts day by day.

How Obama's new mortgage program is steering America toward another housing-market collapse.

January 22, 2016

John Perazzo

0

335

Remember a few years ago, when the American housing market collapsed as a direct result of government policies that—in the name of racial justice—pressured banks to approve mortgage loans for massive numbers of underqualified nonwhite applicants? Remember how that collapse set in motion the financial crisis that then-presidential candidate Barack Obama repeatedly called “the worst economy since the Great Depression”? And remember how Obama—who had long been a leading proponent of precisely the policies that had triggered the crisis—cast himself as the savior who was going to restore fiscal sanity and untangle the whole big mess?

Well, now Savior Obama and his White House are excitedly introducing Americans to their latest brainchild, the “HomeReady” mortgage program—offered through Fannie Mae and designed to help borrowers in “low-income” and “high-minority” census tracts. “For the first time,” boasts Fannie Mae, “income from a non-borrower household member [e.g., a roommate or family member] can be considered to determine an applicable debt-to-income ratio for the loan.” And if those combined incomes aren't enough to qualify an applicant for a mortgage loan, HomeReady comes with additional built-in “flexibilities” like “allowing income from non-occupant borrowers, such as parents.” In other words, just keep rounding up everyone you know, until you can scrape together a 3% down payment and show a combined income that's high enough to qualify for an individual loan. This makes the slipshod lending standards that caused the crisis of 2008 look exacting by comparison........

The dates reveal that the hell-hole comes under our current president's watch.

The U.N. Reports:

A UN report released today details the severe and extensive impact on civilians of the ongoing conflict in Iraq, with at least 18,802 civilians killed and another 36,245 wounded between 1 January 2014 and 31 October 2015. Another 3.2 million people have become internally displaced since January 2014, including more than a million children of school age.

Who is mainly responsible for humanitarian disaster? The Islamic State:

“The violence suffered by civilians in Iraq remains staggering. The so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) continues to commit systematic and widespread violence and abuses of international human rights law and humanitarian law. These acts may, in some instances, amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and possibly genocide,” the report states.

“During the reporting period, ISIL killed and abducted scores of civilians, often in a targeted manner. Victims include those perceived to be opposed to ISIL ideology and rule; persons affiliated with the Government, such as former Iraqi security forces (ISF), police officers, former public officials and electoral workers; professionals, such as doctors and lawyers; journalists; and tribal and religious leaders. Others have been abducted and/or killed on the pretext of aiding or providing information to Government security forces. Many have been subjected to adjudication by ISIL self-appointed courts which, in addition to ordering the murder of countless people, have imposed grim punishments such as stoning and amputations.”

The report details numerous examples of killings by ISIL in gruesome public spectacles, including by shooting, beheading, bulldozing, burning alive and throwing off the top of buildings. There are also reports of the murder of child soldiers who fled fighting on the frontlines in Anbar. Information received and verified suggests that between 800 and 900 children in Mosul had been abducted by ISIL for religious education and military training.

“ISIL continued to subject women and children to sexual violence, particularly in the form of sexual slavery,” the report states.

I think it's wrong to score elaborate political points, so let's just say we should never have withdrawn from Iraq and that the president bears some level of responsibility. And let me move over to another relevant topic. Those punishments and atrocities committed by ISIS are all endorsed by original Islam. Unfortunately, the Western elite just don't seem to get it. They must push for Islam's reform that does not leave behind the Quran, but reinterprets it.

James Arlandson's website is Live as Free People, which is updated almost daily and where he has posted How the world works, Time to reform Islam, and Thirty sharia laws.

The dates reveal that the hell-hole comes under our current president's watch.

The U.N. Reports:

A UN report released today details the severe and extensive impact on civilians of the ongoing conflict in Iraq, with at least 18,802 civilians killed and another 36,245 wounded between 1 January 2014 and 31 October 2015. Another 3.2 million people have become internally displaced since January 2014, including more than a million children of school age.

Who is mainly responsible for humanitarian disaster? The Islamic State:

“The violence suffered by civilians in Iraq remains staggering. The so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) continues to commit systematic and widespread violence and abuses of international human rights law and humanitarian law. These acts may, in some instances, amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and possibly genocide,” the report states.

“During the reporting period, ISIL killed and abducted scores of civilians, often in a targeted manner. Victims include those perceived to be opposed to ISIL ideology and rule; persons affiliated with the Government, such as former Iraqi security forces (ISF), police officers, former public officials and electoral workers; professionals, such as doctors and lawyers; journalists; and tribal and religious leaders. Others have been abducted and/or killed on the pretext of aiding or providing information to Government security forces. Many have been subjected to adjudication by ISIL self-appointed courts which, in addition to ordering the murder of countless people, have imposed grim punishments such as stoning and amputations.”

The report details numerous examples of killings by ISIL in gruesome public spectacles, including by shooting, beheading, bulldozing, burning alive and throwing off the top of buildings. There are also reports of the murder of child soldiers who fled fighting on the frontlines in Anbar. Information received and verified suggests that between 800 and 900 children in Mosul had been abducted by ISIL for religious education and military training.

“ISIL continued to subject women and children to sexual violence, particularly in the form of sexual slavery,” the report states.

I think it's wrong to score elaborate political points, so let's just say we should never have withdrawn from Iraq and that the president bears some level of responsibility. And let me move over to another relevant topic. Those punishments and atrocities committed by ISIS are all endorsed by original Islam. Unfortunately, the Western elite just don't seem to get it. They must push for Islam's reform that does not leave behind the Quran, but reinterprets it.

James Arlandson's website is Live as Free People, which is updated almost daily and where he has posted How the world works, Time to reform Islam, and Thirty sharia laws.

Washington state has now lost its title of having the highest state minimum wage in the United States, but in 2015, it was the top, at $9.47 an hour. Business Insider has now ranked all 50 state economies plus the District of Columbia for 2015, and surprise! Washington state takes the top spot there, too:

1. Washington

Washington state scored extremely well on most of our metrics. Its Q2 2015 annualized GDP growth rate was a stunning 8.0%, by far the highest among the states and DC. The November 2015 average weekly wage of$1,073 was the second highest in the country, and was 5.6% higher than the weekly wage in November 2014, the third highest wage growth rate.

This is not the first time we’ve seen Washington’s strong state economy serve as a counter to all those Republican “higher minimum wage will mean economic disaster” claims, by the way. Of course, now Washington has some catching up to do, as other states have leapfrogged their minimum wages to the top of the pile.

Relations between Israel and major Western countries have become increasingly contentious in recent years, owing largely to disagreements over Israel’s approach to its conflict with the Palestinians. Ties with the U.S. and Europe remain of paramount importance to Israel. But the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made a concerted effort to look toward major Asian countries, if not to replace Israel’s traditional European connections, then at least to lessen the country’s diplomatic and economic dependence on the West.

The refocused efforts have started yielding results, most notably in transforming relations with India, China and Japan.

To be sure, Israel sees itself as a Western country, one whose culture and values align more closely with the West than the East. But, it also sees itself as a unique state, facing some challenges that are best understood in the East.

The most dramatic and profound change has occurred with India, particularly since the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2014. Modi and Netanyahu, by all accounts, have developed a strong personal connection, and they have done so very publicly, which is a dramatic change from the two countries’ history of bilateral links.

India’s foreign minister, Sushma Swaraj, who completed a visit to Israel last week, declared that “India attaches the highest importance” to developing the full range of ties with Israel. While reaffirming India’s continuing support for the establishment of a Palestinian state, she spoke of enormous potential for expanded links with Israel. Her visit came just a few months after Indian President Pranab Mukherjee became the first Indian head of state to visit the country. Prime Minister Modi is expected in Jerusalem later this year, and Mukherjee extended an invitation for Netanyahu to visit India.

The old joke in Israel was that India treated Israel as its mistress: Their relationship was intimate, but never in public. New Delhi bought billions of dollars of Israeli goods, mostly weapons, and had all manner of deep connections with the country, but on the surface remained cold and distant. That’s not an altogether unfamiliar position for Israel, which has quiet ties with many countries that publicly shun and criticize it, including many Arab states. That makes the changes with India particularly gratifying.

Since Modi became prime minister, India is no longer bashful about its ties to Israel. Modi and Netanyahu even proclaim their friendship over social media. When Netanyahu won re-election last year, Modi congratulated him in Hebrew via Twitter. In a separate Tweet, he said it in English for all the world to see. “Mazel Tov, my friend Bibi @Netanyahu,” he wrote. “I remember our meeting in New York last September warmly.”

Indians and Israelis, and their respective leaders, see their two countries as having much in common. Both are home to lively democracies in regions where democracy remains fragile, in the case of South Asia, or uncommon, in the case of the Middle East; both face active hostility from Muslim states and Islamist militants; and both view their economies as engines of innovation.

While reinvigorated exchanges with China and Japan have focused mostly on expanding economic activity, Israel’s links with New Delhi amount to a full embrace............

In some reading lately, I have discovered that the Hindu 'world tree' is the same image as the Nordic 'Yggdrasil', except upside down, in the Hindu version the branches growing down from above, rather than up from below.

Reflecting, this shouldn't surprise, as both groups, the Scandinavians and the Hindus have the Aryan influence from the times when the Aryans learned to ride the horse, and went ariding all over hell, inter marrying with one and all....

I have of course sent the article and pictures of this interesting confluence of imagery to my Niece.

European Northern Christians long ago assimilated the Cross to the World Tree.....Ernie Hemingway in 'The Old Man and the Sea' has it as the mast of the old man's small sailing boat.....there the old man is at the end huffing and puffing up it the beach carrying the mast on his back.....

As we look deeper into our galaxy for signs of extraterrestrial life, we keep drawing a blank. Does this mean life on Earth is unique and we’re the only ones out here? Or could it just mean that all the aliens are dead?

ANALYSIS: Hawking: Earth (Likely) Doomed, Humanity Needn’t Be

Fresh on the heels of the recent news surrounding the increasingly dire climate forecast for our planet, comes a possible warning from the cosmos: climate change in extraterrestrial environments is inevitable and, should life on hypothetically habitable worlds not act as a stabilizer for their environments, it serves as a “sell-by” date for all burgeoning lifeforms.

In new research published in the journal Astrobiology, astronomers of The Australian National University (ANU) pondered this scenario and realized that young habitable planets can become unstable very quickly. What once was a life-giving oasis becomes a hellish hothouse or frozen wasteland very quickly.

“The universe is probably filled with habitable planets, so many scientists think it should be teeming with aliens,” said Aditya Chopra, lead author of the paper. “Early life is fragile, so we believe it rarely evolves quickly enough to survive.”

“Most early planetary environments are unstable. To produce a habitable planet, life forms need to regulate greenhouse gases such as water and carbon dioxide to keep surface temperatures stable,” he said.............

The debate took place against the backdrop of more grim economic news as the International Monetary Fund predicted that inflation in Venezuela would more than double in 2016, reaching 720 percent.

The South American nation already suffers from the world's highest inflation and a crushing recession. The IMF estimates that prices rose 275 percent last year in Venezuela, while the economy contracted by 10 percent

Given the animus between the Chi-coms and the Dalai Lama over Tibet and the separatist movement there, it was interesting to hear this story earlier on CNBC.

It seems the Chinese government, that great defender of religion, has decided that there is an epidemic of fake reincarnations and that they have to form a commission to decide who is the next legitimate reincarnations of the Dalai Lama (interesting given the atheist nature of the communist party).

The current Dalai Lama is upset and has threatened to not reincarnate.

The Chinese insist that the Dalai Lama does not have the right to not reincarnate.

Magnificent Ronald and the Founding Fathers of al Qaeda

“These gentlemen are the moral equivalents of America’s founding fathers.” — Ronald Reagan while introducing the Mujahideen leaders to media on the White house lawns (1985). During Reagan’s 8 years in power, the CIA secretly sent billions of dollars of military aid to the mujahedeen in Afghanistan in a US-supported jihad against the Soviet Union. We repeated the insanity with ISIS against Syria.